Visualization and Configural Reasoning

Abstract

This research analyses the relationships between the identification of prototypical figures and geometrical knowledge in solving proof problems as a evidence of configural reasoning. We analyze the answers of 182 preservice teachers on two geometrical proof problems, which include a geometrical configuration and a request for proving a geometrical fact. The results indicate that identifying a prototypical figure in the initial configuration has a heuristic effect that determines the path of problem-solving, activating certain geometrical facts and generating the change from visual anchor to anchor discursive. These results allow us to character the relationship between visualization and geometric knowledge in the configural reasoning dining proof problem solving. Finally, we derive some implications for teacher education.

Keywords:
Configural Reasoning; Proof; Prototypical Figure; Visualization; Geometry Learning